Wire reel



March 27, 1928. 1,663,766

G. W. LANDIS wms REEL Filed Feb.23. 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ll .R 4

' annual "George WiL-andzg .WIz iness:

Guam,

G. W. LANDIS WIRE REEL March 27, 1926. 1,663,766

Filed Feb. 25, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 GO ii I v E 5 anyc nl o'z Gewye it'll amizs Wziiness;

61mm, I

Patented Mar. 27, 1928.

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. WIRE REEL,"

Application filed rebrua'ry2s, 1a27. s rial .1e 1 17q,263,

My invention relates to reels, and my object is to provide a light-weight'and coinpa ct device of this character which canbe' readily carried upon the body ofthe operator while taking up wire that has been used for various purposes, such, for instance, as in the construction of fences. T

After repairing or rebuilding barbed wire fences it is important to gather up the old wire to prevent live stock from becoming entangled and injured, but owing to the presence of trees, brush, and other obstructions it is diflicult and sometimes impossible togain access to the discharge wire with a reel mounted upon a wagon. I overcome this difficulty by providing a reel which can be carried on the body and operated over any ground where it is possible to walk, and in order that the invention may be fully understood reference will now be had to the accompanying drawings, in which: I .Fig. 1 shows the device supported upon the body of the operator who is in the act of winding the wire upon said reel. Fig. 2 is enlarged side elevation of the device with one of the braces broken away to show an underlying arm.-'

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the device. Fig. 4: is a detail ofthe reel shaft; 7 h Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section of the reel. Fig. 6 is a detail perspective view of the reel with one of its heads removed. In carrying out the invention I employ a light and compact frame 2consisting of a body plate 4, arms 6 and 7, and'braces '8.

and 9.

The body plate 1 consists preferably of sheet metal which is concav'ed horizontally as disclosed by Fig. 3, to more comfortably lit the forward portion of the body of the operator, and is bent forwardly along its vertical margins to provide flanges and 11, which reinforce said body plate and provide convenient means for attachment of the arms andbraces. The rear end of the arm 6 fits against the lower inside portion of the flange 10 to which it is riveted or otherwise firmly secured, and the brace 8 is firmly secured at its lower end to the forward end of said arm 6 from which it extends upwardly at an angle and is riveted or otherwise firmly secured to the flange 10.

The arm 7 and the brace 9 are firmly secured at their forward ends to each other in much the same manner as the arm. 6 and the b race" 8,ibut instead of being rigidlysecured at their rear ends to the flange 11 are swingably .con'nected'theretoby'a pair of hinges 12,'for a' purpose which willhereinafter appear. At the points where the hinges 12 are securedto theflange 11 the latter is reinforced by blocks 14, which'are firmly securedv to the inner side'ofsaid flange 11 and constitute abutments for therear ends offthe arm 7 and the brace 9.

. 16 designates'a strap adapted to pass over the shoulders and acrossthe back of the operator as shown by Fig. 1. One end" of said strap 16 is connected to a -ring'18 ex? tending throughvan eye 20 secured to the up per portion of the brace 8. The opposite end of the strap 16 is provided with a snap hook 22 adapted todetachably engage a ring extendingthrough an'eye '26 secured to the upper block 14.- v v I y 28 designates a shaft journaled in the forvided near one end with a fixedly mounted clutch 30 and a fixedly mounted cog wheel 32. The cog wheel 32 'intermeshes with a pinion 34- fixedly mounted upon "a stub shaft 36 provided at one end with a crank 38- ward portions of the arms 6 and 7 andproequipped with a handle 40. The stubshaft 36 is mounted in the'arm 6 and a cleat 42,

which latter is secured at its rear end to the arm 6, and in additionto forming one of the bearings for the stub shaft 36, also consti tutes one of the bearings for the shaft 28. V

1 1 designates a sheet' metal reel which is removably mounted upon the shaft 28 and consists of heads 48 and 50, and acollapsible hub consisting of members 46 and 47. The

head 50 is removably connected to one end of the collapsible hub by a pair of hooks 52 and thumb nuts 54, which latter arethreaded upon the outer ends of the former. The two hub members 46 and 17 are connected to the head.4i8 by pivots 60, so that when the head. 50 is removed the free ends of said members 46 and 17 maybe swung towards each other as shown by Fig. 6, and be readily withdrawn from the center of a roll of wire which has been wound upon the hub. The hub members 46 and 47 also taper towards their free ends to facilitate their removal from the roll of wire The head 50 has a centrally-disposed annular flange 66, which projects laterally beyond the thumbv nuts 58 toprevent the latter from contacting the arm 7 and the brace 8 when the reel is roone end of the wire is bent around the reel hub or otherwise secured thereto. The operator then advances towards the opposite end of the wire winding the latter upon the reel by rotating the same through the intermediary of the handle 40, the crank 38, the pinion 34, the cog wheel 32, the shaft 28 and the clutch 30, which latter has fingers 31 which fit over'the adjacent cross member of the reel head 48. After the wire has been wound upon the reel 44 the latter may be removed from the shaft 28 by first removing the cotter pin 70 to permit the arm 7 and the brace 9 to be swung to the open position disclosed by dotted lines Fig. 3. i The reel 44 is then removed from the roll of wire after removal of the head as above stated. The roll of wire may then be disposed of in any way desired. In some instances, reels may be cheaply made from old scrap lumber and be thrown away without removing them from the rolls of wire.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the drawings it is apparent that I have provided a device which is well adapted for the purpose intended, and while I have shown the preferred construction, combination and arrangement of parts I reserve all rights to such changes and modifications as properly fall within the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed. 7

Having thus described my invention, what I claim'and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is i i 1. A device of the character described con sisting of a frame .adapted to be worn upon the body, a shaft journale'd in said frame, a reel mounted upon said shaft and including cross members at each end, a clutch upon said shaft provided with fingers for engaging the edges of one of said cross memibers and rotating said reel, and manually controlled means for driving said shaft.

2. A device of the character described consisting of a forwardly curved body plate having forwardly projecting marginal flanges, a pair of arms projecting forwardly from the lower portion of said body plate, a pair of braces extending from the upper portion of the marginal flanges downwardly to the forward portion of said arms to which they are rigidly secured, a shaft j ournaled in the forward portion of said arms, mecha nism for rotating said shaft, and a reel moilinted upon said shaft to rotate therewit 1. i

3. A device of the character described consisting of a body plate, a strap'for securing said body plate upon the body of the user, a pair of arms projecting forwardly from the lower portion of said body plate, a pair of braces extending downwardly at an angle from the upper portion of the body plate to said arms, hinges connecting one of said arms and the associate brace to the back plate, a shaft journale'd in the arms, mechanism for rotating said shaft, and a reel mounted upon said shaft to rotate therewith and removable from the shaft when the hinged arm and brace are swung clear of the shaft.

4. A device of the character described consisting of a frame, a shaft mounted in said frame, means for rotating said shaft, a pair of reel heads removably mounted upon said shaft, hub members pivoted at one end to one of said reel heads, hooks detachably connecting the free ends of said hub members to the other head, nuts threaded upon said hooks and bearing against the outer surface of the last-mentioned head, and a circular axial flange projecting from the outer surface of the last-mentioned head and beyond said nuts for preventing the latter from contacting the adjacent portion of the frame.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

GEORGE W. LANDIS. 

